Zombie Nightmare
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''Zombie Nightmare'' is a 1987 Canadian
zombie film A zombie film is a film genre. Zombies are fictional creatures usually portrayed as reanimated corpses or virally infected human beings. They are commonly portrayed as cannibalistic in nature. While zombie films generally fall into the horror ...
produced and directed by Jack Bravman, written by John Fasano, and starring Adam West,
Tia Carrere Althea Rae Duhinio Janairo (born January 2, 1967), known professionally as Tia Carrere (), is an American actress, singer and former model who got her first big break as a regular on the daytime soap opera '' General Hospital''. Carrere played C ...
,
Jon Mikl Thor Jon Mikl Thor (born 1953), better known as simply Thor, is a Canadian bodybuilding champion, actor, songwriter, screenwriter, historian, vocalist and musician. As a bodybuilder, he was the first Canadian to win both the Mr. Canada and Mr. USA ...
, and
Shawn Levy Shawn Adam Levy (born July 23, 1968) is a Canadian film director, film producer, actor, and founder of 21 Laps Entertainment. He has worked across genres and is perhaps best known as the director of the '' Night at the Museum'' film franchise an ...
. The film centres around a baseball player who is killed by a group of teenagers and is resurrected as a
zombie A zombie ( Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in w ...
by a
Haitian voodoo Haitian Vodou is an African diasporic religion that developed in Haiti between the 16th and 19th centuries. It arose through a process of syncretism between several traditional religions of West and Central Africa and Roman Catholicism. There ...
priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...
ess. The zombie goes on to kill the teens, whose deaths are investigated by the police. The film was shot in the suburbs of
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
, Canada. It was originally written to star mostly black actors but, at the request of investors, the characters' names were changed to more typically white names. While Bravman was credited as director, Fasano directed the majority of the film. Problems occurred between Fasano and the production crew, who believed him to be assistant director and ignored his directions. Originally planned for theatrical release, ''Zombie Nightmare'' was released
direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy wa ...
by
New World Video New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
. It grossed C$1.5 million against a budget of $180,000. While it received negative reviews from critics, finding the plot to be predictable and derivative, it was praised for its heavy metal soundtrack featuring
Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...
,
Girlschool Girlschool are a British rock band that formed in the new wave of British heavy metal scene in 1978. Frequently associated with contemporaries Motörhead, they are the longest-running all-female rock band, still active after more than 40 ye ...
, and Jon Mikl Thor's band
Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, an ...
. ''Zombie Nightmare'' was shown in a 1994 episode of the comedy television series '' Mystery Science Theater 3000''.


Plot

Baseball player William Washington is fatally stabbed defending a young girl from two teenagers. Years later, William's son Tony also becomes a baseball player. After Tony disrupts a robbery at a grocery store, he is struck and killed by a car full of teenagers: Bob, Amy, Jim, Peter, and Susie. The teens flee the scene and Tony's body is carried to his home, where his mother Louise mourns over him. She contacts Molly Mekembe, the girl William saved, to repay the favour of her rescue. Now revealed to be a
Haitian voodoo Haitian Vodou is an African diasporic religion that developed in Haiti between the 16th and 19th centuries. It arose through a process of syncretism between several traditional religions of West and Central Africa and Roman Catholicism. There ...
priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...
ess, Molly resurrects Tony as a
zombie A zombie ( Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in w ...
and uses her powers to guide him to the teenagers, aiding him in his revenge. The next night, Tony tracks Peter and Susie to an academy gymnasium and fatally breaks Peter's neck, then kills Susie by crushing her skull with a baseball bat. Police detective Frank Sorrell investigates the case. Police Captain Tom Churchman tells the press that the killings were a drug-induced murder-suicide. The next night, Tony finds Jim sexually assaulting a waitress and impales Jim with his bat, killing him. Churchman tells Sorrell that they found a suspect responsible for the murders and closes the case. Believing that the case has not truly been solved, Sorrell investigates photos that place Molly at both incidents. He suggests bringing her in for but Churchman dismissed it. After sending Sorrell home to rest, Churchman calls Jim's father Fred and informs him of Molly's involvement in Jim's death. Fred goes to the police station to meet Churchman, but is killed by Tony en route. Believing that they will be targeted next, Bob and Amy decide to leave town. They steal money from Jim's uncle's garage but Tony finds them there and kills them. Sorrell is attacked by Tony but survives. While monitoring Tony's actions, Churchman abducts Molly and forces her at gunpoint to show him where Tony is going. Sorrell follows Tony to a cemetery. Molly and Churchman soon arrive, with both telling Sorrell that the priestess resurrected Tony to not only avenge himself, but also to avenge Molly, as Churchman and Fred were the teenagers who attacked her years ago and Churchman killed Tony's father. Churchman shoots Tony, having learned that a revived zombie's power fades once it has achieved its goal. Molly tries to cast a spell, but is shot and killed by Churchman, who then turns to kill Sorrell as the only surviving witness. However, a second zombie rises out of a nearby grave and drags Churchman into the ground while Churchman pleads for Sorrell to kill him but he ignores him and walks away.


Cast


Production

Director Jack Bravman wanted to transition from
adult films An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of ma ...
to horror, and contacted John Fasano after hearing about his work on ''Blood Sisters''. Bravman asked Fasano to write the script and take an uncredited co-directing role. Fasano accepted and wrote the original script to have the teens be black with black-sounding names, setting the film in his hometown of
Port Washington, New York Port Washington is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on the Cow Neck Peninsula in the Town of North Hempstead, in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York. The hamlet is the anchor community of the Greater Port Wa ...
, and offering local actors roles for the film. Associate Professor of the
University of Lethbridge , mottoeng = '' Let there be light'' , type = Public , established = , academic_affiliations = Universities Canada , endowment = $73 million (2019) , chancellor = Charles Wease ...
Sean Brayton described the original concept as "a retribution narrative" of a black character getting revenge on the white perpetrators of his death. The script was later changed to give the teens more white-sounding names because investors were worried that a black-centric cast would not sell in the foreign market. Having written the script on an IBM Selectric II, Fasano typed the white-sounding names onto a page, cut them out with a knife, and glued them to their appropriate places in the script. After the name changes, they received a budget of $180,000 from investors. Unions in New York did not give the production a permit to film in the state, so filming was moved to
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
, Quebec. ''Zombie Nightmare'' was produced by Montreal-based company Gold-Gems Productions and was the film debut of American actress
Tia Carrere Althea Rae Duhinio Janairo (born January 2, 1967), known professionally as Tia Carrere (), is an American actress, singer and former model who got her first big break as a regular on the daytime soap opera '' General Hospital''. Carrere played C ...
. Adam West played the crooked policeman Tom Churchman. West was on the set for two days and glanced at his script during his scenes; Fellow cop Frank Sorrell was played by Frank Dietz, a childhood friend of Fasano. Manuska Rigaud, who played voodoo priestess Molly Mokembe, was a professional
Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...
impersonator. The role of Tony was originally given to bodybuilder Peewee Piemonte. Days into production, Piemonte was fired for eating all the craft services and the meals of crew members. Piemonte was replaced by Jon Mikl Thor, singer for the Canadian rock band
Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, an ...
. Wrestler
Superstar Billy Graham Eldridge Wayne Coleman (born June 7, 1943), better known by his ring name "Superstar" Billy Graham, is an American former professional wrestler. He gained recognition for his tenure as the WWWF Heavyweight Champion in 1977–1978. He is a three- ...
was originally cast to play Tony's father. On the day he arrived in Montreal, no one came to pick him up at the airport and Graham left after waiting ten hours. Fasano took up the role. Scenes with West and Carrere were directed by Bravman while Fasano shot the majority of the film. Problems occurred between Fasano and the Canadian crew, who believed him to be assistant director and not co-director. This resulted in his directions being ignored by the crew, including cinematographer Roger Racine. Tony Bua and Andy Clement, college friends of Fasano, made the zombie masks and provided the makeup for the film. It took five hours to apply Jon Mikal Thor's makeup, using glue and latex. American cast and crew members were housed in an airport hotel with pornography being played on every television channel, and they noticed that Bravman's name appeared in the credits for many of the films. ''Zombie Nightmare''s editor, David Wellington, received the writing credit for the film so that it would qualify for a Canadian tax credit program. Thor wrote much of the incidental music. This includes heavy metal riffs by his band and synthesizer music played by the band Thorkestra. Several other heavy metal bands contribute to the soundtrack. The
Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...
single "
Ace of Spades The Ace of Spades (also known as the Spadille and Death Card) is traditionally the highest and most valued card in the deck of playing cards in English-speaking countries. The actual value of the card varies from game to game. Design The orn ...
" plays during the opening credits. Other bands heard on the soundtrack include
Virgin Steele Virgin Steele is an American heavy metal band from New York, originally formed in 1981. The band released a few career highlights albums (''Noble Savage'', '' The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part I'', '' The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part II ...
,
Girlschool Girlschool are a British rock band that formed in the new wave of British heavy metal scene in 1978. Frequently associated with contemporaries Motörhead, they are the longest-running all-female rock band, still active after more than 40 ye ...
, Fist, and
Death Mask A death mask is a likeness (typically in wax or plaster cast) of a person's face after their death, usually made by taking a cast or impression from the corpse. Death masks may be mementos of the dead, or be used for creation of portraits. It ...
, and a track by Thor's then-wife and backup singer Rusty Hamilton.


Reception and legacy


Release

The film was originally planned for a theatrical release by Filmworld Distributors but it was instead released
direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy wa ...
by
New World Pictures New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment and New World Communications Group, Inc.) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia company. It was founded in 19 ...
. It was released in the United States on VHS in October 1987. The film grossed C$1.5 million worldwide. The film was released on special edition
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
by Scorpion Releasing in 2010.


Critical reception

Steve Bissette for ''Deep Red Magazine'' criticized the story for being predictable and derivative. Bissette thought the makeup and production values to be competent and noted Rigaud's "absurd over-the-top performance". '' Fangoria'' had praise for the performances of the teen leads and recommended the movie for its heavy metal soundtrack. However, the reviewer considered the film boring, criticizing the lack of special effects and the predictable plot. Ian Jane of ''
DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...
'' wrote that the film was horrible but so "deliciously goofy" one couldn't help but have fun with it. Writing in ''The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia'', academic
Peter Dendle Peter Dendle is a professor of English at Penn State Mont Alto, teaching classes on folklore, 20th and 21st century representations of the Middle Ages, Old and Middle English (language and literature), and the monstrous (in film, folklore, and s ...
called it "painful and toilsome". '' Bloody Disgusting'' listed the film among the "cheesiest" of heavy metal horror films. ''
Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...
'' considered the soundtrack to be better than the film itself. Jim Craddock, author of ''VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever'', summarized the film as "cheap and stupid".


''Mystery Science Theater 3000''

''Zombie Nightmare'' was featured in a season six episode of '' Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''MST3K''), a cult
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
comedy television series in which the character Mike Nelson and his two robot friends
Crow T. Robot Crow T. Robot is a fictional character from the American science fiction comedy television series '' Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''MST3K''). Crow is a robot, who, along with others, ridicules poor-quality B to Z movies. Overview Accordin ...
and
Tom Servo Tom Servo is a fictional character from the American science fiction comedy television show ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''MST3K''). Tom is one of two wise-cracking, robotic main characters of the show, built by Joel Robinson to act as a com ...
are forced to watch bad films as part of an ongoing scientific experiment. The episode was first showcased during
Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...
's "Fresh Cheese" fall 1994 tour around college campuses in the United States. It made its television debut on Comedy Central on 24 November 1994. The episode premiered during the channel's annual Turkey Day marathon of ''MST3K'' episodes, which West hosted. In ''The Amazing Colossal Episode Guide'', a series guide written by ''MST3K'' members,
Mary Jo Pehl Mary Jo Pehl (; born February 27, 1960 in Circle Pines, Minnesota) is an American writer, actress, and comedian. She is best known for her various roles on the television series '' Mystery Science Theater 3000''. ''Mystery Science Theater 3000 ...
described the movie as "painful" and said that the members of the show "thoroughly, intensely, and unequivocally hated this movie". In 2009, Shout! Factory released the episode as part of the "Volume XV" box set, and in 2017, the episode was added to
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
.


References


Citations


Bibliography

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External links

* * * {{featured article 1987 films 1987 direct-to-video films 1987 horror films Canadian supernatural horror films Canadian independent films Canadian films about revenge English-language Canadian films 1980s English-language films Films with screenplays by John Fasano Canadian zombie films Films shot in Montreal Films set in Montreal Films about Voodoo New World Pictures films Heavy metal films Canadian direct-to-video films Direct-to-video horror films 1980s teen horror films Canadian rock music films 1980s Canadian films